JD Journal » laptops

Morning Roundup

joshua — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 13:57:53 +0000

Good morning everyone! Today is Monday, September 13th. Here’s a quick recap of Friday’s stories.

The ACLU will represent defense lawyers against U.S. Homeland Security…

According to a CT TyMetrix Inc. and The Corporate Executive Board survey, billing rates in Washington, D.C. are the second highest in the U.S….

The Quellos Group owners pled guilty to fraud and tax evasion…

The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy was ruled unconstitutional in California’s 9th District…

Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan disqualified herself from 10 more cases…

Law School admissions officers survey tells prospective students how to prepare…

Burleson Cooke added nine attorneys to its Pittsburgh office…

ACLU to Represent Defense Lawyers Against U.S. Homeland Security

ashley — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 02:07:12 +0000

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the National Press Photographers Association are coming together to bring a law suit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to inhibit the searching and copying of electronic information on laptops, phones and other information-storing devices at airports.

The president-elect of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Lisa Wayne, had her laptop ceased at the Houston airport in 2008 after returning from Mexico. She reports that an official had her turn on and log in to her laptop and then took the device to a separate, hidden location for half an hour. Wayne says she fears that even referring to attorney-client privileges in the future will not be enough to keep her private files private.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit in the Eastern District of New York on Tuesday, including Pascal Abidor in its list of plaintiffs, a dual American-French citizen doctoral student whose laptop was confiscated for 11 days. Abidor is an Islamic studies PhD candidate at McGill University and was questioned as to why he had Hezbollah and Hamas-related material on his computer.

The complaint against Homeland Security reads, “Electronic devices like laptops, ‘smart’ phones, and external data storage devices hold vast amounts of personal and sensitive information that reveals a vivid picture of travelers’ personal and professional lives, including their intimate thoughts, private communications, expressive choices, and privileged or confidential work product.” The ACLU is claiming this is a clear violation of the First Amendment.

Pennsylvania School District Accused of Spying on Students at Home

joshua — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 04:22:03 +0000

A class action law suit has been filed against the Lower Merion School District alleging the district violated the privacy of its students by remotely activating the webcams in laptops provided by the district to spy on students at home. The laptops contain a security feature that allows the owner of the laptop to remotely activate the embedded webcam to take a still photograph and a snapshot of the activity on the computer desktop. The lawsuit alleges that the Vice Principal of Harrington High School told a student that the district believed that he was “engaged in improper behavior at his home”. The Vice Principal is alleged to have used still pictures taken by the laptop as proof.

The lawsuit claims that students and parents were not told of the security feature before accepting use of the computers.

In a letter on the Lower Merion School District’s website, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Christopher McGinley said “This feature was only used for the narrow purpose of locating a lost, stolen or missing laptop. The District never activated the security feature for any other purpose or in any other manner whatsoever.” However, no explanation was given for the incident involving the Vice Principal of Harrington High School.

The lawsuit claims that the district violated several laws, including including the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, The Computer Fraud Abuse Act, the Stored Communications Act, a section of the Civil Rights Act, the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the Pennsylvania Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Act and Pennsylvania common law.

Laptops Good for Law Students

Erik Even — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:56:29 +0000

From the 2008 Law School Survey of Student Engagement (LSSSE) [PDF], published by the Center for Postsecondary Research at Indiana University at Bloomington: while many law schools (and other post-secondary schools) are banning laptops from the classroom, this might be a mistake.

Laptop computer use and its educational implications have sometimes generated heated debate among legal educators. LSSSE findings show that student use of laptops for keeping and reviewing notes and calling up previously briefed cases goes together with high levels of engagement in courses. So when used effectively, laptops may well enhance learning, rather than being a substitute for other kinds of course engagement or simply a distraction.

Also from the report: More than 90% of 1L students regularly come to class prepared, but only 75% of 3Ls do so. And 18% of students feel that their law school contributes very little to developing a personal code of values and ethics.

BTW, did anyone else notice that the LSSSE authors forgot to pay for their images? Oops.

Via The Chronicle of Higher Education via The UW Law Library.